Good News for the Idolatry Struggle

Good News for the Idolatry Struggle (Ezekiel 14:1-11 & 2 Thessalonians 3:3)

Reading Scripture is exciting! I love watching God's Spirit tie things together from different sections of His Word in ways that teach and encourage me. It doesn't matter how long or how often we read the Bible, God still shows up to give us new insight and encouragement.

I had planned to go back to Ezekiel for today's Freedom Fighter. I didn't plan to find "collateral" material from Paul's writings. That is what happened, though.

Yesterday we thought about the danger of idolatry. In that same section of Ezekiel God tells Ezekiel what He (God) is going to do to resolve the idolatry problem in Israel. Look at vs. 5. ". . . that I may seize the house of Israel by their heart, because they are all estranged from Me by their idols." Even when the children of Israel (and we) refuse to listen and avoid the danger of idols, God proactively intervenes to turn our hearts back to Him! He loved Israel (and loves us) that much.

Let's learn the lesson, Freedom Fighters. We know, love and serve a God who refuses to give up on us. We may walk away. We may struggle with the world, the flesh, and the devil. We may think we will never win lasting victory. Even when we feel overwhelmed, we must remember God's gracious love for us. He will not give up on us even when we give up on ourselves.

The devil does not want us to believe that. He wants us to think we are hopeless failures. The lies and deceptions keep coming; they are endless. Satan will bombard us with every trick he has to keep us from God's proactive "seizing of our hearts." During Ezekiel's day, Satan had false prophets, false priests, and ungodly leaders who convinced the people to pursue idolatry. God kept sending genuine prophets. He did not give up. He did not quit. He determined to "seize the house of Israel by their heart" because He loved them. He loves us no less!

This is where 2 Thessalonians comes in. My reading in that little letter yesterday morning brought me to chapter 3, verse 3. "But the Lord is faithful, who will establish you and guard you from the evil one." Do you see the pattern? Even when we struggle with the temptations to idolatry, the Lord is at work establishing us and protecting us from Satan's tricks and deceptions.

America's Keswick has a slogan they use a lot. It's simple: "Think Victory!" Because we walk with a God who refuses to let idolatry rule our lives, we can think victory. Because we belong to the true and living God who establishes us and guards us from the evil one, we can think victory. I urge you to allow God to do His work in your life this week. Think victory! -- John Strain is Senior Pastor of First Baptist Toms River

God's WORD for YOU: Job 32:33; Acts 14

Think About This: What is meant by "follow"? To follow signifies that the way I tread and the place where I go are all decided by someone else. We are following the Lord; therefore we have no authority to decide our own path. The body in its relation to the Head can only obey and follow. If we wish to live out the life of the body of Christ we must cover our own head; that is to say, we must not have our personal opinion, egoistic will or selfish thought. We can only obey the Lord and let Him be the Head. -- Watchman Nee